Big-box stores go big on solar

There are two things you notice when you see a Google Maps view of a big-box store: a lot of parking lot and a lot of roof. That first thing is a problem: Big-box stores are a symptom and a facilitator of sprawl, encouraging people to drive in and consume. For most such stores, even someone living across the street would have to walk about five minutes across asphalt before they could make a purchase.

Panels on a Sam’s Club in Puerto Rico. Walmart (parent company of Sam’s) has a large gallery of images of its solar rooftops.

But those roofs? The roofs are an opportunity — for the company and for the environment. As The New York Times reports:

Led by the likes of Walmart, Costco and Kohl’s, commercial installations of solar power have increased sharply in recent months. More than 3,600 nonresidential systems were activated in the first half of 2012, bringing the number of individual solar electric systems to 24,000, the report said.

Whether driven by brand identity or cost concerns, almost half of the top 20 commercial solar customers are major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Staples.

Walmart’s focus isn’t only on solar. In Portland, the company is building a new 90,000-square-foot store which will feature the city’s largest green roof. The roof will “have three sections with different soil levels to test the most effective green roof practices” — not only employing the concept, but expanding it. Amazon, the online version of a big-box store, is building Seattle’s largest development ever, topped with a green roof.

As Batman or someone said, with great roof space comes great responsibility. If we’ve gotta have big stores (which we don’t), we might as well put those big roofs to use.